Meeting, Drinking, and Singing. The three of them got together for a mini council of war shortly before the Locket officially opened up for the evening. Juri drank some coffee, Keiko was sipping a bit of ginger ale, and Utena was sampling a new drink that Ryouko had made. Utena took a cautious sip of her drink, and by the look on her face she obviously wasn't enjoying the mixture but was too polite to just send it back. "So Touga's drinking is becoming a problem?" she asked them. "That's what Nanami told me," Keiko nodded. She looked mildly butch in her black pants and white shirt, her hair braided down her back. "But why does she want me to go see him?" Juri asked her. She continued, "No insult meant, but we barely tolerated each other on the student council. Why not Utena?" "I wouldn't put it quite like that," Utena nodded, "but I was wondering that, too." She looked down at her drink and with a little sigh tried a bit more. "It actually tastes better as your tongue goes numb," she muttered. Juri looked at her oddly, then reached out and slid Utena's glass away from her. "I think that's enough of that," she said firmly. "Touga looks up to you a lot," Keiko said to Utena, "and I think it would make him very uncomfortable to be seen in his current state by you right now." She looked at Juri, "He respects you, but can deal with you as an equal." Juri sighed softly. "All right," she said, "I'll go see Touga. But no promises on my being able to accomplish anything." "Thank you, Juri," Keiko smiled, getting up to go to work readying the tables. "What's this I hear about a pink haired girl with a sword fighting Youma?" Juri leaned over the table to ask Utena once Keiko had left. Utena blushed, "What, is it against the rules? Besides, I just happened to be at the right place at the right time." "Still," Juri smiled at her, "it was nicely done." Later that night, and the place was jumping. Most of the regulars were there, and one or two new arrivals gave a bit of spice. There had been a string of pretty good karaoke singers when a wickedly grinning Aoi Futaba took the stage. "Oh, dear," Yoriko sighed, wondering what her lover was going to do now. The song soon hit the chorus, and she began to laugh aloud. "Why can't we all just get along? Boys, boys in the girl's room, Girls, girls in the men's room, You free your mind in your androgyny Boys, boys in the parlor, Girls, they're getting harder, I'll free you mind in your androgyny." Aoi smiled, hamming it up on the stage. She took a graceful bow when she finished and stepped down to sit by her lady love. "So how did I do?" she asked Yoriko with a grin. "You just have to remind everybody that you were once a boy," Yoriko chuckled. "Occasionally, yes," Aoi smiled back. "Way to go, Futaba," Juri sauntered over, "now I'm probably going to have another petition to boot you out of here. Gee, thanks." Aoi blew her a loud raspberry. She pulled out a chair, "Grab a seat, Juri. How are things going with Setsuna?" Juri waved down Mahoro as she was bustling by, "Gingerale, please." "Hai, sempai," and Mahoro was gone like a shot. A moment later, she carefully put the drink on the table. "Wow," Yoriko blinked. 'That was fast,' she thought. "I took Setsuna to my apartment, showed her around, asked her to move in with me, and she turned me down," Juri shrugged. "What?!" Aoi blurted, nearly spraying Juri and Yoriko with her drink. "It's not quite that bad," Juri smiled, explaining the circumstances. "I forgot about the daughter," Yoriko admitted. Over at the bar, Ryouko and Minagi were preparing a tray of drinks for Mahoro to carry to the tables. Ryouko looked over at the dark haired server curiously, "I thought that you only had a year to live, or something?" Mahoro beamed, "Washu fixed that." Her eyes got all big, sparkly and shoujo-like, "Washu-sama can do anything!" Minagi blinked, "Did you do anything to your personality?" "No, why?" Mahoro asked. "Never mind," Ryouko muttered. A tall young woman strode up to the bar, her cold expression raking the crowd and quickly clearing a path for them. Her sandy hair fell into her eyes, and she flicked it back smoothly. Sadly, her attempt at being too cool for words was rather spoiled by the happily beaming young woman who was holding her arm. Sai Jounouchi nodded to Minagi, "Could I get some sake, please?" Still holding on to her arm Kaede Saitou smiled sweetly, "A glass of wine, please." Minagi poured the first bowl of sake for Sai, even as Ryouko produced a bottle of high quality red wine. "You two play Angelic Layer, right?" Minagi asked. Sai looked a bit surprised, "How did you know?" "Two of your fellow players are regulars here," Ryouko stepped in to explain, "Hotoko and Misaki, in fact." Kaede chuckled softly, "They must make a cute couple." "That they do," Minagi smiled. In a darkened corner of the Locket a figure studies the crowd, drinking something thick and red from a tumbler. The black leather clad figure sets down the drink before loudly proclaiming, "Bored now." A young woman in a low cut dress walks by her, and the brown haired figure follows before a soft hiss of metal on metal is heard. Saya holds the blade to her throat as she orders, "Don't even think about it." Under her breath she mutters, "Newbies." Vampire Willow carefully steps back into the shadows before picking up her drink again. "No fun," she pouts cutely. The Staff: The bar's owner is Arisugawa Juri, from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Minagi and Ryouko are from the series Tenchi Muyo. Keiko is also from Utena. Mahoro is from Mahoromatic. Our Cast This Episode: Utena and Nanami are from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Aoi and Yoriko are from You're Under Arrest. Washu is from Tenchi Muyo. Sai Jounouchi, Kaede Saitou, Misaki and Hotoko are all from Angelic Layer. Vampire Willow is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And finally, Saya is from Blood the last Vampire.
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